


retracing steps

by anons



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: About Time AU, Also Mark being stupid and confused, But everyone's already of age so don't worry, Lots of drinking, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 15:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14696769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anons/pseuds/anons
Summary: It takes one accidental time-travel and one day of dating Donghyuck in another reality for Mark to realize a few things. [About Time AU]





	retracing steps

**Author's Note:**

> alternatively, 13k of mark gay panicking
> 
> 1 this is loosely based off the movie about time. in one part, the protagonist's sister kitkat goes back in time with her brother to fix some past mistakes. they come back to the present only to realize that the slight adjustments made resulted in her suddenly dating one of their old friends
> 
> 2 they can only time travel back to places and times they've been to
> 
> 3 i posted a wip similar to this (same idea, different plot) in another fandom back in 2016 but deleted it immediately so if u somehow read that and found this familiar that explains it i guess
> 
> 4 also some scenes are inspired by irl markhyuck moments count them off if u want

**IN BETWEEN.**

Contrary to what Mark had thought it would be, it doesn’t really feel like being sucked in a portal. It isn’t dizzying either, nor does he fly or float. He only stays still and doesn’t move, which is strange. He guesses the things around him does the work for him.

It starts off slow, a small ripple in the deep water of time. There is no sound too. Everything is quiet, teetering in a standstill, and if Mark listens well enough, he could hear his heart beating in his chest, a sound he’d learned to find comfort in. 

When his father had first told him about time travel, he’d also told him the secrets and tricks that come with it. One that stuck to Mark’s mind is that in order to ensure success in travelling back through time, he’d also have to focus on a feeling. Instead of trying to block out his thoughts and singularly thinking of that one moment in detail, he should also remind himself of something specific he felt during that time. Like the feeling of wooden floors under his feet or the feeling of thirst during a party.

It’s easier that way, he’d said. The familiar feeling first, and everything will follow after.

In time-travelling, the only guess about it he’d gotten right is the chill. There would be stillness in the air and then suddenly, a cold blanket would sweep over, along with the thousands of memories that would wash over him like a torrent. He’d only realize that he’s arrived when light finally floods under his eyelids and the prickling warmth of a cramped space hits him. There would be muted noise in the distance.

Usually, during this time, Mark would give himself a few moments. Then, he’d come out to the light.

  

**UNIVERSITY CAFÉ. 6:21PM, FEBRUARY 3.**

“That doesn’t make sense,” Jaemin points out.

“You don’t make sense,” Donghyuck snorts, then takes a sip from his drink. Low lights hang overhead as they sit in one of the booths tucked in the far side of the café, beside the rustic mantelpieces shelving books and eccentric trinkets. Mark’s knees knock against Donghyuck’s as he sits across him.

Jeno comes with a few more tissues in hand and slides next to Mark. Hearing the quarrel from afar, he asks, “What are we fighting about?”

“ _They_ , not we,” Mark corrects, grabbing a tissue from Jeno. “Don’t get involved. It’s something silly again.”

“Overwatch isn’t silly,” Jaemin says. “But Donghyuck is.”

Jeno laughs from his seat. “Whatever,” Donghyuck says, glaring pointedly at Jeno. “At least I’m going to Lucas’ party tomorrow.”

Jeno stops laughing.

“Hey, don’t be mean, Donghyuck,” Mark says but the laughter in his voice gives him away. “It’s not his fault his Friday classes end at 8 in the evening."

“Yeah,” Jaemin snorts in lieu of laughter. “It’s also not his fault he has a paper due on Saturday.”

“I hate you all,” Jeno says.

Their laughter echoes throughout the whole café, carries itself to the air and dissipates in giggles along with the hazy steam in their coffees. Books are left leafed open on the table as their supposed study session falls through again.

As the chatter goes on, Mark moves his arm and accidentally hits his coffee cup. It almost spills on his notebook. He almost thinks nobody noticed when Donghyuck speaks up.

“Careful there,” Donghyuck says from across the table. Mark looks up at him. He’s the only one who sees.

“Yeah, that was close,” Mark says with relieved laughter, moving his cup further away. At this, Donghyuck shakes his head with a smile.

 

**LUCAS’ PARTY. 7:41PM, FEBRUARY 4.**

“Hey, Mark!” Lucas greets, yelling from the living room when he enters. Chan turns to look and he waves at him. Yerim too looks up from her plate of food and smiles. “Hey there,” she says when he nears. She's chewing on a chicken. “Donghyuck isn’t with you?”

Mark raises his eyebrow, though he knows she’s asking because they always came to parties together. “He’ll be here in a bit, he just needs to finish some things.” 

Her mouth forms a small ‘ _o’_ in understanding and she turns back to her food. Lucas retreats to the kitchen, maneuvering in the small crowd. Renjun passes by him on the couch, and he pats Mark’s shoulder to say hello. 

“Jeno’s sulking,” he tells Mark. “He texted me this afternoon with a bunch of sad emojis.”

“Aw,” Mark laughs, “too bad for him.”

Lucas comes back from the kitchen with two cups and hands one to Mark. “Some good ol’ soju to start the night,” he grins. “Do you want some too, Renjun?”

Renjun’s eyes widen. “Oh no, thank you. Mark-hyung can have my share.”

Mark raises his eyebrow at him. “You heard him, Mark,” Lucas winks, then pads back to the kitchen again to grab more bottles. By 8PM, the crowd has started thickening and he hears a few people laughing-screaming somewhere in the house.

Donghyuck and Jaemin come fifteen minutes past eight, and they immediately sit on the couch beside Mark. “What took you so long?” he asks Donghyuck, absently shaking his cup.

“Had to wait for Jaemin to come to my dorm,” Donghyuck says. “He wanted to go together.”

They stay there the whole remainder of the party, and at one point Donghyuck leans his head on Mark’s shoulder. A group of sophomores play truth or dare and they watch from their spot on the couch. Lucas keeps on passing him cups and pouring him soju so by 9PM, he’s already tipsy and giggly and extra-smiley.

“Here comes drunk Mark again,” Jaemin whispers to Donghyuck who looks.

Mark is laughing loudly at something Lucas said and he’s fumbling with his words, sentences toppling over one another, not making sense. His face is flushed and his eyelids are drooping, though he still looks very keen on continuing his monologue. When he turns to see, Donghyuck is looking at him.

“Hey there hyung,” Donghyuck quips. “You okay?”

Mark blinks at him blearily. “I mean, why wouldn’t I be?” 

Donghyuck chuckles, shaking his head. “You’ve clearly had too much to drink.”

“That’s not true,” Mark frowns, then looks down at his empty cup. He grabs the bottle and pours himself another one again. Donghyuck watches him drink everything with a hiss after. The fairy lights on the wall are starting to look blinding.

“Ah shit,” Mark sighs. “I think my head hurts.”

“Of course it does,” Donghyuck says, tilting his head at him, looking at Mark curiously, and Mark doesn’t remember the details after that.

He knows that after, he probably still continued drinking and downed a few more shots. The fairy lights are very fucking bright now, and the world is spinning somehow. Or maybe he’s the one who’s spinning? He blabbers this observation to someone, gripping their arm tight for balance. He doesn’t remember who he’s talking to but knows someone is listening.

“Alright, hyung, time to go home,” somebody says. He feels his arm being thrown over a shoulder and he frowns. The last thing he remembers is someone telling him they’re going home and the feeling of a gentle touch on his cheek, and the rest of the night is a blur.

 

**MARK’S DORM. 9:57AM, FEBRUARY 5.**

An avian fluttering of the curtains whispers through Mark’s room. Inside, the morning light kisses the dark spaces of his dorm awake and there is a quiet creak on the floorboards. Sitting up on the bed, Mark is rubbing his sleep-crusted eyes, feet touching the floor. He is still in his clothes from last night and he reeks of faint cologne and alcohol. Only his jacket is left discarded on the ground.

An ache shoots up his head and he reaches out to touch it, wincing in pain. He doesn’t recall much from last night, just remembers the heat sloshing down his throat and in his stomach as he downed shots of soju amidst laughter and dim lights. His throat feels dry. He feels churning in his stomach, twisting unpleasantly, and promptly thinks he’s about to die in the early morning.

Then, as he stands up to get himself a glass of water in the kitchen, he feels something come up to his throat. He takes a detour to the bathroom.

He doesn’t even have time to turn on the lights when he heaves, then throws up. 

“Oh god,” he groans after, hands on the toilet seat but he doesn’t really care now. He vomits two times in one minute. He feels fucking terrible.

He sits in pitch black for a few minutes after, shaky fingers now resting on the cool bathroom tiles. He feels light-headed and he closes his eyes, chest heaving. His throat still feels dry.

In the haze of his mind, he is reminded of a random memory crammed somewhere in the back of his mind. It comes out like a single buoy in the ocean of his thoughts.

In this memory, there is a cup in his hand. Of what, he doesn’t know. He vividly remembers the cup to be red and recalls the feeling of moisture coating his palm. He has drunk most of the stuff and is about to refill it.

There is muted noise: the sound of bass drilling in his ears, collective chattering everywhere. It’s a memory Mark isn’t sure why he vividly remembers, but he focuses on the feeling of the cup in his hand anyway and its contents coolly sloshing down his throat. 

Sitting on the tiled bathroom floor, everything is still. He wonders why that memory came to him. Then, his arms are dotted with goose bumps at the sudden chill that sweeps over. Mark is sitting on his bathroom floor one minute, eyes closed and head spinning, and then he’s not.

 

**SOMEWHERE, SOMETIME.**

The first thing that comes to Mark’s mind is: “ _I am thirsty_.”

He opens his eyes to bright light filtrating through the cracks from the door. He squints, blinking rapidly, and thinks he hears the sound of something booming somewhere not far away. Maybe in the next room, he isn’t sure. He stands and expects to feel the cool tiles of the bathroom floor under his feet but he feels his sock wriggling against his shoe instead. 

It is then he realizes.

The second thing that comes to his mind is that he might have accidentally time travelled.

His head is still throbbing and he still feels like lying down. But he thinks he feels significantly better. When he takes a step, he feels his feet come into contact with something. It skitters across the floor, hits a dead end on the wall. It’s a red cup. Mark doesn’t pick it up.

He doesn’t know where he is, what time period he’s in, and whose bathroom was he sitting on. Still, he braces himself. After a few seconds, he opens the bathroom door.

The EDM bursting through the speakers in the other room is unmistakable as he steps out into the hallway. The lights are quite dim here and the sounds are kind of muffled in this side of the house.

He tries to rack his brain for clues to where he might be. But in all honesty, all he can think of is that he needs to hydrate himself. So he pads through the carpeted floor, in search for the kitchen. He isn’t really familiar with the house so he crosses out the possibility of him being in his friend’s house. It’s too big and has too many bright lights, he thinks, turning left down the hallway.

Turning left was either the correct decision or a mistake because he sees Yuta, and he really doesn’t know what to make of the elder’s huge grin. He had been Mark’s senior when he’d just gotten to college and he often stirred up trouble.

“Mark!” he says. “There you are!”

“Here I am,” Mark says lamely, voice coming out hoarse. Yuta immediately walks over to him and throws an arm around his shoulder.

“Where have you been hiding?” Yuta asks. “The party isn’t that way.”

“Uh”—his head throbs as they navigate through hallways—“just had to go to the bathroom.”

“Got lost, didn’t you?” Yuta chuckles. “Everybody does. Sooyoung’s house is fucking huge, man. It’s a whole mansion.”

Sooyoung. He racks his brain for that familiar name and immediately lands to a realization. Park Sooyoung, a graduate from their university. She had thrown one of the biggest parties by inviting almost everyone over, including students in her old university, for New Year's Eve celebrations. He finally realizes where he is.

New Year's Eve Party, December 31. When he catches a glimpse of the clock overhead, he sees that it’s almost 11PM.

When they get to the living room, throbbing lights and music assault his eyes and ears. Streamers and people overwhelmingly spill from every corner.

“I think your friends are over there,” Yuta says, pointing down the far side. “Go along now and have fun! You shouldn’t be MIA in a party like this!”

Mark opens his mouth to say something but Yuta cuts him off with a wink. “No need to be so thankful. I’m just being a good Samaritan. Run along now.”

But it’s Yuta who runs along a few seconds later with one last grin as Mark mumbles, “I was just about to ask where’s the kitchen.” He is left alone in the middle of the crowd. He thinks of going back to the present but whatever, he’s already here anyway. He can get a glass of water here instead.

Sure enough, amongst the huge throng and past a few people, he sees Jeno and Lucas sitting on one of the couches laughing with a few others. They don’t see him though, and he doesn’t walk to them. He’s keen on looking for the kitchen to relieve his pounding head and dry throat.

Thankfully, after a few minutes of dazed navigating and awkward queries from other people, he finds the kitchen far off in the hallway. He enters and finds only one person inside, peeking inside the refrigerator.

At the sound of footsteps, Donghyuck whips around and they make eye contact.

“Oh, Mark-hyung!” he exclaims, a surprised smile painting his lips. “There you are! I was wondering where you’ve gone to!”

But all Mark says— _rasps_ , really—is, “Water.”

Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows. “Why do you look and  _sound_ like you’re dying?” He grabs a clean glass from the sink anyway and pours water. Mark downs three glasses in less than two seconds.

“Oh shit,” he exhales in relief. “I really needed that.”

Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, his lips quirking up in amusement. “Been drinking?”

“Not really,” he says, but then he remembers that he  _had_ drunk in this party and went home a bit tipsy because Doyoung kept passing him cups. That explains why he still feels a bit dizzy. “Well actually, yeah, a bit.”

Donghyuck chuckles. “Yeah, same. I’ve had a few too.”

Mark pours himself another glass of water and sits on top of the counter, feeling strangely tired. Donghyuck just hangs back, leaning on the counter in front of Mark. The kitchen’s yellow lights butters Donghyuck’s hair a soft brown. Mark remembers that Donghyuck had dyed it back in the fall. He thinks it suits him.

He remembers idly, looking at his wrist watch, that at this time in this party he should have been outside with Lucas and Jeno. Not in the kitchen with Donghyuck. The minute they’d entered the party—Donghyuck and him—some time at 8PM, he’d been whisked away by Doyoung and Donghyuck by Jaemin who had come earlier than they did. He’d barely seen Donghyuck at all and only got to when they’d huddled to watch two rounds of beer pong in the living room. Mark also remembers walking back to the dorms with Jeno instead.

“What do you think New Year has in store for us?” Donghyuck asks suddenly.

“Good things, I hope,” Mark says.

“The only thing I want is to survive finals,” Donghyuck sighs. “Every time I look at my notes, nothing makes sense.”

Mark’s mind flashes: Donghyuck pulling a couple of all-nighters weeks later. Donghyuck asking Mark and Jisung to come to his and Jaemin’s study session at the university. Donghyuck finally getting through finals.

“You will,” he says because he knows. “You don’t need to worry much, really.”

Donghyuck groans. “I just want to disappear and move to another country and you all won’t hear about me anymore.”

“Don’t be silly,” Mark laughs. “Though if you did, you’d be doing us all a favor.”

“Hey!” Donghyuck says. Mark continues laughing even when he’s being kicked in the shin. “Really though,” Mark says after his laughter has died down, “don’t worry, you’ll get through finals.”

“How are you so sure?”

“I just know,” Mark smiles, and it’s subtle but Mark sees it: the way Donghyuck’s face softens to a smile, almost thankful, lips slanting up at the slightest. Looking at Mark with something. The brightness of everything bounces on his cheek. 

But it goes as quick as it came and Mark only has a few seconds to notice it before Donghyuck is grouching again. They playfully bicker and talk in the kitchen as the night ascends.

They don’t even notice they’ve spent too long in the kitchen. Five minutes before twelve, Doyoung comes in to usher them out of the kitchen. They pass the almost empty living room, streamers and spilled drinks still lying around, as they walk to the front lawn where everyone has gone to watch the fireworks and do the countdown.

“There you guys are!” somebody says from the crowd. When they turn to see, it’s Jeno grinning widely with Jaemin in tow. “Just in time!”

“I heard Sooyoung’s got fireworks of her own,” he hears someone else say, sidling up beside him. When he turns to see, It’s Lucas. “Hey there,” Mark smiles at him, bumping fists, “had fun?”

“Yeah, where were you?” Lucas laughs. “You said you needed a bathroom break and then went missing for the next hour.”

“Ah, I got lost. Found myself in the kitchen instead,” Mark says. Donghyuck turns from his conversation with Jaemin and he and Lucas greet each other. Up ahead, there are already a few, small fireworks bursting but it’s not yet time.

“Anyone seen Lucas?” somebody yells from afar. Lucas turns to look but he it’s really hard to pinpoint who it is with the thick crowd chattering loudly. “He’s here!” Jaemin yells back. Almost immediately, Jungwoo appears from the crowd. “There you are,” he says to Lucas.

“This is one crazy party,” Donghyuck says, now back to his side. “Everyone’s looking for everyone.”

Mark looks at him and chuckles. “It is crazy,” he says. “Also the biggest one I’ve been to, yet.”

“Ah, this is the first time I didn’t spend the new year with my family though,” Donghyuck hums. “I kinda miss them.”

Another firework surges up ahead, bursts to neons in the sky. “I miss my family too,” he says. Somebody brushes against his arm in the thickening crowd, Mark unconsciously moves closer to Donghyuck.

“Do you remember New Year celebrations in Canada?” Donghyuck asks. Their elbows are practically pressed up to a kiss now. Then, the countdown starts, everybody yelling in. Everything is loud around them but he hears Donghyuck’s question clear and well.  _10…. 9…_

Mark thinks back to lamb stews and loud streets and the unnerving smell of smoke everywhere. Still, there is the warmth of home. “Of course I do.” 

 _7… 6…_  “What do you guys usually do?”

“Well, for one,” Mark starts, saying the first thing he remembers, mind kind of preoccupied by the impending show in the sky and the countdown, “in parties, people kiss other people when the countdown ends.”

One lay firework bursts in the sky, somebody laughs out loud.

“Oh.” When he turns to see, Donghyuck is blinking rapidly at Mark in surprise, as if he doesn’t know what to do.  _3… 2…_ Mark realizes what he said.

_1._

Overhead, the sky starts bursting a spectrum of colors. Stuff purely made out of calcium chloride and gunpowder and charcoal, booming thrice every second. It’s a cacophony of screams and laughter and bursting fireworks in his ear. Somewhere, somebody flips a calendar to a new page.

“Happy new year!” Lucas yells in his ear.

Mark and Donghyuck’s eyes meet for the last time, and then away. A new, small crease forms in the ripple of time. Mark thinks he has overstayed and really needs to go.

 

**MARK’S DORM. 10:03AM, FEBRUARY 5.**

“ _I’m just trying to say, hyung—“_  

It’s staggering, the amount of memories that swamps in his head. The last thing he sees flash in his mind is Donghyuck smiling before he throws up again, body reacting to the smell of vomit nearby. His mind is presenting him the new series of events his life has taken a turn to but he doesn’t have time to think about it, head aching once again. He flushes the toilet and washes his face.

“ _—give you time to figure everything out yourself—“_

When he steps outside the bathroom, his phone rings. He picks it up. In the other side of the line, he hears the same voice in his thoughts speak.

“Mark-hyung?”

His stomach churns weirdly, the aftermath of vomiting. “Donghyuck, hey.”

“Hey.” Donghyuck sounds surprised; something in his mind tugs. Memories. Donghyuck touches his hand in this one. “I didn’t think you’d answer.”

Mark laughs despite the scratchiness in his throat and the confusion in his mind. “Why’s that?”

“Well, I thought you’d be passed out ‘till afternoon or whatever. You drank too much last night. How are you feeling?” 

“Uh”—Donghyuck smiles at him here; they are in the university cafe— “a little bit like shit, but I’m kind of fine now. I threw up first thing in the morning. Now I think I need breakfast and more rest. My roommate’s not here though so I don’t know…” 

“You’re left alone?” His voice tumbles through the static. “How are you gonna get breakfast?” 

“I’ll… figure something out. Maybe my roommate cooked something and left it on the fridge—“

“If he didn’t, then what will you do?” Mark can almost imagine him raising his eyebrow. “You can check if you still have instant ramen left. Maybe you can cook that.”

“Yeah, that too. I—“ he closes his eyes, feeling another throb in his head. “I-I’ll figure something out.”

Donghyuck does not miss anything. “You’ve got terrible hangover, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’ll—“

“Mark-hyung,” Donghyuck cuts him off. “You—“ he hears another voice in the other line, but the words are muffled. Donghyuck sighs. “Alright, fuck, fine.”

Mark hears Donghyuck say something to someone in the other line, but his voice is unclear. Another memory tugs again. This time, it’s just dark but someone is shaking him awake. The touch is gentle.

“Hey,” Donghyuck says, coming to the phone again. “Okay, so, I’m with Renjun right now. And we’re coming over.”

“Wait,” Mark furrows his eyebrows, “what?”

“How else could you eat breakfast without poisoning yourself, dummy?” There’s something in his voice that Mark cannot pinpoint, but he’s pretty sure there’s a smile in it. “We’re coming over. See you in a bit. Don’t try to kill yourself.”

“Donghyuck—“

The line dies, and Mark is left holding his phone in his ear.

Suddenly,  _suddenly_ , everything comes to him. New memories stream and overflow in his mind. Donghyuck looking at him when the New Year countdown ends. Them walking home together. Soft laughter and touches. Then, weeks later, Donghyuck accidentally confesses to him during that one time he helps Donghyuck study for finals. Mark gives himself time to think first. As for now, they’re unofficially dating. From what he can tell, the others still don’t know.

_“I—I’m just trying to say, hyung, that maybe Jisung is right and the possibility of me liking you isn’t so farfetched.”_

_A pen drops. “…what?”_

_“I know this is a lot to take in. It is for me too because I’ve only realized recently. But I just… wanted to put it out there.”_

_“I don’t— shit.” A pounding. “I don’t really know what to…”_

_“You still haven’t… rejected me.”_

_“No, I—“ A pause, then a gulp. “I haven’t.”_

_A flush. “So you—oh,_ oh. Okay.  _Okay, I’ll just.. I’ll give you time to figure out everything yourself_ —“

The small crease stretches out, forms a bigger ripple in the glistening water. A crossroad intersects in every way and Mark finds himself walking in a new one. Time ticks loudly in the distance.

Mark is in the bathroom splashing his face with water, trying to make sense of the situation, when someone knocks on the door. His spine snaps ramrod straight. It’s muffled but Mark hears it, Donghyuck’s unmistakable voice saying: “We’re coming in!”

When the door opens, Mark hesitantly comes out of the bathroom. Renjun comes in first, then Donghyuck. He turns his head, and he and Mark make eye contact.

Oh _, fuck._ Mark feels like his whole body is on fire. It burns at the realization.

“Looking terrible,” is the first thing Donghyuck says because  _of course_ , it’s still Donghyuck. But then he smiles at Mark with softness in his eyes and somewhere in his tongue, Mark loses his retort and ability to smile back.

“You couldn’t have at least changed your clothes?” Renjun says, snapping him out of whatever reverie he was in. Mark consciously looks down at his clothes, and picks on the hem of his shirt.

“Was too dizzy,” Mark clears his throat. “But yeah, let me just… shower and change quick.” 

He feels Donghyuck’s eyes on him as he crosses the room to grab a change of clothes. He doesn’t look back though and hurriedly retreats to the bathroom. His heart is loudly pounding in his chest when he closes the door because really, this can’t be happening. There must have been a mistake or something. A slip in time, an—

“Mark-hyung?”

He almost jumps in surprise. “What is it?”

“I’m going to cook bean sprout soup, is that okay for you?” Donghyuck calls from the other side of the door. “I can take a quick trip to the grocery store if you want something else—“

“No, no, it’s fine,” Mark sputters. “Just make use of anything in the kitchen. Anything is fine for me.”

“Alright then,” Donghyuck says. “Take your time,” A beat, then, “you stink.” 

Mark finds himself smiling at the familiarity, a bit relieved. “Piss off.” And Donghyuck does, with a loud laugh. He hears it echo even a wall away. He closes his eyes and leans his head on the wall, head spinning at the sudden turn of events.

  

**HONGDAE. 6:04PM, FEBRUARY 5.**

Cobbled streets meet asphalts in a soft graze, separating the college street from the main roads. Under one of the bus stops, Mark stands with a nervous bounce to his feet. His eyes dart anxiously from his phone and to the busy street ahead. He’s been standing here for almost five minutes and no one has arrived yet.

He hears a thump from behind him, and he jumps in surprise. He turns to look behind but finds no one. When he looks back ahead, somebody springs from beside him and clings to his arm with a loud ‘ _boo!_ ’.

“What the fuck!” Mark says eloquently.

It’s Donghyuck and he’s laughing at Mark as he lets go of his arm. “Why are you so jumpy?”

Mark sneers. “You surprised me, dipshit.”

“Didn’t think it would work,” Donghyuck grins, then says with a teasing voice: “Has Mark turned weak-hearted?”

“Shut up,” Mark grumbles. The bus arrives and lets out a mechanic sound, its doors opening. Two people walk out but they aren’t anyone they know. The doors close, and the bus leaves and disappears in the evening traffic. The others are taking an awful lot of time to arrive, unfairly so, considering that Mark is the one who was sick this morning.

“Didn’t think you’d come tonight,” Donghyuck says. “You weren’t answering my texts so I assumed you must’ve slept the whole day. Are you feeling well now?”

“Yeah, I feel a lot better now,” Mark says, then adds hesitantly, “Thanks for taking care of me. I guess the soup did the trick.”

Donghyuck smiles at him with a gleam in his eyes, teasing, and he is reminded of Donghyuck gently touching the side of his face just before they left Mark to sleep. “Just the soup?”

Something jumps in Mark’s throat, and he looks away. “Yeah, just the soup.”

In his peripheral vision, he sees Donghyuck grin at him. He tries to ignore Donghyuck’s small mutter of ‘ _cute_ ’ and drowns it in city noise. He  _should_ be used to this. After all, he and Donghyuck had been this way—teasing remarks and random compliments—ever since. It really feels different now somehow, what with the sudden turn of events. He knows every word has a meaning now. It feels…

“Jisung couldn’t have just given us the address of the samgyeopsal place instead?” Mark says, trying to distract himself. “He really  _had_  to let us meet at the bus stop.”

Donghyuck chuckles. “It’s his treat anyway. Cut the poor kid some slack.” 

“The poor kid could afford to come quicker,” Mark says. Donghyuck huffs out a laugh.

A few minutes later, Renjun finally arrives from around the curb, followed by Jisung and Chenle filing out of the bus looking disheveled as if they ran to catch it. “Fix your hair, Pwark,” Donghyuck says, hands coming up to Jisung’s hair and ruffling it even more. Jisung swats his hand away with a yelp. 

“Jeno just got out of class,” Renjun says, looking at his phone. “He says he and Jaemin will meet us at the place. Just text them the address.”

“Which what you should have done in the first place, Jisung,” Chenle says, and he laughs at Jisung’s indignant ‘ _hey!_ ’.

“Happy birthday, you little devil,” Renjun grins, placing Jisung on a headlock. “Thanks for the treat!”

They dote on Jisung all the way to the samgyeopsal place, and Mark tries hard not to notice the way Donghyuck hangs back to walk beside him discreetly. So far, their interactions haven’t been anything out of the ordinary. It’s still the same: the back and forth bickering, the shared laughter, the teasing. Mark can’t help but be hyperaware of everything now though, and he isn’t sure how he’d react if they did anything to live up to what they’re supposed to be in this reality.

There are still vacant seats in the samgyeopsal place when they arrive, and it’s not as teeming with people as the other restaurants are. Which isn’t a surprise. The place is snugged at the near back of other restaurants, in one of the quieter streets of Hongdae. Still, Jisung promises, it offers the same high quality food with the same price. 

They settle on the cushioned seats pushed in one of the corners. Donghyuck, unsurprisingly, sits beside him as the others fill empty spaces with chatter. “Text Jeno and tell them to hurry up,” he tells Renjun. It is almost thirty minutes past six when Jeno and Jaemin arrive, blinking confusedly at the whole place and face lighting up when they see the others. 

“We almost got lost!” Jaemin says as they near, then he sees Jisung. “Hey, happy birthday, Jisung! Nice of you to treat your best hyungs like this.”

Jeno flashes a smile in Jisung's way. “Happy birthday, Jisung.” He and Jaemin squeeze in the seat beside Chenle.

“Hey, you know what I think we should do?” Donghyuck suddenly exclaims loudly from beside him. “We should sing our Jisung-ie here a very loud and attention-grabbing happy birthday.” 

The others instantly wear matching grins. Chenle laughs in delight. And as Jisung realizes what they are about to do, his eyes widen, shaking his head profusely. “No, no, no, wait—“

“Happy birthday to you!” 

The effect is instantaneous: other people in the place immediately turn their eyes on them and turn quiet, only the sound of their singing and the sizzling grills echoing in the restaurant. Even one of the staffs smiles. Jisung, red-faced and embarrassed by the attention, sinks into his seat beside Mark. Mark just laughs and pats the younger’s head.

“Happy birthday, Jisung-ah,” Mark grins when the song ends. Jisung doesn’t move his head from behind Mark’s body, and Donghyuck laughs.

They chatter on as Donghyuck and Renjun start grilling the meat. Jisung eventually lifts his head from Mark’s side at the smell. Side dishes dot their whole table, and soon after Jisung is already starting to eat his radishes. Chenle keeps on asking for meat as they cook so Renjun sticks a small one between his lips to shut him up. He chews on it happily. 

“And one for the birthday boy,” Donghyuck says, holding a small meat between his tongs. Jisung takes it between his chopsticks and starts making  _ssam_. 

“And one for”—Mark turns a few seconds later, and Donghyuck is holding an already made  _ssam_  a few inches away from Mark’s face— “our Mark-hyung.”

“Oh, wait, thank you—“ he takes it in his mouth. Donghyuck smiles, satisfied. When he turns to his right, Jisung is looking at them with a peculiar quirk on his lips. Knowing, somehow. He and Mark make eye contact for a brief moment, and then Jisung looks away to bother Chenle. 

“— _Jisung is right and the possibility of me liking you isn’t so farfetched—“_

“Are you going to drink your soup?” Chenle asks him from across the table. 

“What?” Mark blinks at him. “Oh, yeah, I was planning to. Why?”

“I wanted to have it…”

Mark laughs at his crestfallen face. “Alright, you can have half.”

Chenle’s face lights up and he immediately takes the bowl. “Yay, thank you!”

“It’s good you’re finally present for once, Jeno,” Donghyuck says. Renjun is already distributing the meat in everyone’s plates. Chenle is sipping on his soup noisily.

“I don’t attend one party because of classes and you’re acting as if I’m always missing in action,” Jeno says, shaking his head. “Anyway, what happened last night? I heard you didn’t feel too good earlier, Mark-hyung.”

Mark looks up from his meat at the mention of his name. “Huh?” he says, “oh, yeah. I had a hangover. I’m okay now though.”

“Did you really drink that much?”

“I lost track,” Mark says sheepishly.

“By 9PM, he was already drunk,” Jaemin says. “Donghyuck and I had to haul his ass all the way to his dorm. He kept on laughing and rambling random things. Something about Avengers.”

“I would have paid to see that,” Jisung says.

“I threw up in the morning,” Mark hums around his drink, ignoring Jisung’s snicker. “It was probably the most I’ve drank because I felt really terrible.”

“He sounded like he was dying when we talked on the phone,” Donghyuck laughs. “I had to come over and cook him breakfast.”

He sees Jaemin’s eyebrow raise. A discreet smile starts to form in his lips. Mark doesn’t know why but he adds on hastily, “He was with Renjun.” 

“I see,” Jaemin says, but he’s smiling like he’s found something funny. Mark clears his throat, oddly embarrassed, and stuffs his face with meat instead. Donghyuck changes the topic by bullying Jaemin about something he said at the party. 

Later on, Donghyuck nudges his knee. Mark looks up and sees Donghyuck’s eyes fixed at him. The lines of his face are defined under the light. “You good?” he asks quietly, and the way he’s talking so lowly over the noise and the way his eyes are seeking are so intimate that Mark just nods stiffly and looks away.

  

**MARK’S DORM. 9:13PM, FEBRUARY 5.**

It’s 10 minutes after lying in bed and trying his best to sleep when Mark decides to travel back through time. After they’d all lugged home with last greetings for Jisung, Donghyuck had texted him. Aside from his constant side glances and the fleeting touches, nothing out of the ordinary happened during dinner. The text, though, was something.

 ** _donghyuck_** : yo i forgot to ask u

 ** _donghyuck_** : do u want to go out tomorrow? this movie i’ve been waiting to see just came out…

 ** _donghyuck_** : just the two of us?

Mark still hasn’t replied and he is wide awake in bed, staring at the darkness. Situations keep replaying in his head: Donghyuck confessing, their interaction at the New Year's Eve party, Donghyuck coming to his dorm. He tries not to think too much and decides on it.

This part, he has done a thousand times times before. In the dark, he closes his eyes and thinks back to that time they were in the café and he was helping Donghyuck study. He relives the feeling of listening to the jazz music coming from the speakers. He clutches his hands to fists, and lets go.

  

**UNIVERSITY CAFÉ. 7:30PM, JANUARY 22.**

_Inhale, exhale_.

The bathroom’s doorknob is cool under Mark’s fingertips. Counting to five, he lets himself have a moment first before taking a last exhale and pushing the door open. The café’s busyness greets him, and immediately he hears jazz pour from the plush speakers above. 

Jisung, Jaemin, and Donghyuck are sitting where they’re supposed to be. Mark walks to them.

He immediately laughs despite his nerves when he sees Donghyuck with his head in his hands. “Is he dying?”

“Close, I think,” Jisung says.

“He’s having a mental breakdown,” Jaemin supplies, still reading his notes. A plate of waffles he remembers to be his sits untouched on the table along with the countless papers and books. The jazz isn’t doing anything to calm Donghyuck down. Mark thinks the same thing goes with him.

“Hey,” Mark starts carefully, treading slowly, remembering what’s supposed to happen this day. “You okay?”

Donghyuck turns to him with a dead look. “Do I look okay?”

“No.” He chews his bottom lip. “No, not really.”

Donghyuck groans out loud. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all is sticking to my mind. Finals are in 36 hours and I’m fucking doomed. Dead. Done for.”

“Don’t say that,” Mark frowns. “You’re going to get through it no matter what.”

Donghyuck is still groaning at his hands. “Dead, dead, dead.”

“Hey,” Mark says, swatting Donghyuck’s hands. He stops fiddling. Mark swallows and chooses his next words. “You can do it, okay? You don’t have to worry so much.” Jisung is looking at them. “I believe in you.”

Donghyuck looks at him, his eyes almost unreadable. Almost. “Sometimes, when you say things like that I almost…”

Mark’s heart jumps to his throat. Donghyuck doesn’t look like he’s going to finish that sentence though. “Almost?”

“I almost believe you don’t hate Donghyuck,” Jaemin jokes.

Mark smiles nervously. “I don’t hate Donghyuck,” he says, though he knows Jaemin is joking. And he jokes back. “Though with Donghyuck’s constant insults directed to me, I’m not sure if Donghyuck feels the same.” 

Jisung laughs. “Of course he does, he likes you!” Donghyuck whips his head to look at Jisung; Jaemin winces. “I mean, the idea isn’t farfetched anyway…” Jisung clears his throat. “I  _mean_ , why would he hang out with you if he hated you, hyung?”

“Yeah,” Mark swallows. “I know. I was just joking.”

“Yeah,” Jisung whispers to himself, and he shuts up. Donghyuck looks like he wants to murder the kid.

They spend the rest of the time in the café in relative silence. Donghyuck looks like he’s actually focused for once but Mark can see that he’s been in the same page for about 10 minutes now. It isn’t until Jisung has to leave that their table moves from the static.

“We all should get going,” Jaemin says. “We all have early morning classes tomorrow.”

“No, I’ll stay,” Donghyuck replies. “My roommate is fucking loud and I really can’t study around him. You guys can go though.” 

It’s then that Mark remembers his promise of helping Donghyuck study which prompted him to stay. “I-I’ll stay, too,” he coughs. “I guess.” Donghyuck looks at him in alarm.

“O-kay,” Jaemin says awkwardly. “I guess Jisung and I… have to go now.”

Jisung doesn’t move at first until Jaemin pushes at him to get going. He hears the younger squeak something along the lines of “ _Don’t kill me_ ” or “ _I’m sorry_ ” to Donghyuck before scurrying off. Either way, both works.

It’s relatively quiet when they are left alone, and Mark’s chest is drumming loud more than ever. In anticipation? Nervousness? Panic? He doesn’t know. 

“Mark-hyung…”

And here it comes.

He knows what should have been in this part. If Mark hadn’t hung out with Donghyuck during the New Year's Eve party, there wouldn’t have been a tension in the air like this. They would be laughing instead and Mark would be shushing Donghyuck, trying to get him to study. Everything would be back to normal. But somehow, the universe decided to exacerbate what should have been a small interaction into something else, something bigger. So here they are.

He really should have gone back to fix things really. Why is he still sitting in this chair?

“I—“ Donghyuck looks nervous. “I don’t really…”

Mark talks despite himself. “What is it?”

“I don’t know how to say this. I really can’t focus right now. I just…”

He sees it: that something in Donghyuck’s eyes. Apprehension. Maybe even a little bit of affection as he meets Mark’s eyes. He feels very, very confused, and he doesn’t know what to make of it. And that’s what does it for him. He stands up, his chair skittering with a loud noise as it drags on the floor.

_Shit, shit shit—_

“I’m sorry, I think I really need to go.“

“Wait, hyung—“

“I’m so sorry, Donghyuck-ah—“

“Wait.” Donghyuck holds his wrist to stop him from leaving. His lower lip is wedged between his teeth. He’s nervous, Mark can tell. “I—I’m just trying to say, hyung, that maybe…” he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, “maybe Jisung is right and the possibility of me liking you isn’t so farfetched.”

The pen on the desk rolls, and drops to the floor. Mark feels like he’s going to explode. Donghyuck looks so, so different under the light, and Mark can’t stop the hammering in his chest. “What?”

“I know this is a lot to take in. It is for me too because I’ve only realized recently. But I just…” Donghyuck sighs, letting go of Mark’s hand. “I just wanted to put it out there.”

“I don’t— shit.” His heart is pounding. He’s tongue tied, his mind a mess. This really shouldn’t have happened in the first place. “I don’t really know what to…” 

“You still haven’t… rejected me.” Donghyuck winces like the idea itself is painful.

“No, I—“ Mark really needs to go. “I haven’t.”

Donghyuck’s eyes widen, then he flushes. “So you—“ 

“I really, really need to go,” Mark says desperately, and then he runs off, leaving Donghyuck behind.

  

**MARK’S DORM. 9:14PM, FEBRUARY 5.**

Mark’s eyes fly open. He is in his bed, lying in the dark, and he can’t seem to catch his breath. When he closes his eyes, the image of Donghyuck paints itself behind his eyelids and he shakes his head, mumbles to himself. “No, no, no,” he says, voice nearing the edge. Memories flood in his mind.

He sits up in realization, like somebody had hung the edges of his spine on the moon. Things aren’t back to normal, he time-travelled to the wrong time period and should have went back to the New Year's Eve party instead to fix things, he and Donghyuck are still a thing here—

His phone rings.

In his confusion, he answers it.

“Hello?”

He almost drops it. “Hey,” he says, his voice coming out shaky, an exhale. “Donghyuck.”

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Donghyuck asks, picking up on Mark’s shaky voice.

“No. Nothing. No, no. I’m fine—“

“Hyung.”

“Donghyuck, this isn’t it. This is a mistake—“

“What are you saying?” He hears static in the other line. “Slow down.”

“I can’t— I have to go.”

“No, wait!” Mark stops. “Wait, I’m just here to say… open the door. I’m outside?”

Mark almost convulses. “What?” 

When he hurriedly walks to turn on the lights and open the door, Donghyuck is standing there, holding his own phone in his hand. His hair is covered in a hoodie and he’s holding something in his other hand. Donghyuck raises the thing—Mark’s charger, it turns out—in a weak ‘ _surprise_!’. 

“I forgot to give it to you earlier, so…” Donghyuck says, dropping the call. He pockets his phone and looks at Mark strangely. “I texted you and tried to call you three times. What happened?”

Mark grabs his charger from Donghyuck; he had let him borrow it earlier in the morning. “Nothing. Was just busy. I’m fine, really—“

“Hyung,” Donghyuck says with an undertone. He doesn’t believe Mark. Mark doesn’t even believe in himself anymore. 

Mark closes his eyes, tries to calm down. “This is a mistake, Donghyuck,” he sighs.

Mark sees Donghyuck’s face fall, and something inside him twinges with guilt. “What?” Donghyuck says the words softly, carefully, as if he’s afraid to know but he already does. He continues with shaking eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I’m really sorry. I don’t really know how this happened.”

Donghyuck swallows, and now he looks like he’s stuck from being angry to being sad to being confused. “You’re not making any sense.”

“It’s really hard to explain—“

“Then fucking try,” Donghyuck grits. “The least I could get is an explanation.”

Mark looks at Donghyuck and sees his best friend, years and years of friendship allowing Mark to be familiar with every single mole in Donghyuck’s face. The lines that harden or soften whenever he’s angry or happy. The dark roots of his hair that has experience countless hair dyes ranging from a fiery red to a bubblegum blue. The mischief in his eyes. Mark looks at Donghyuck and sees that he deserves to know, at least. Mark had always replayed the fun times he and Donghyuck had, and Donghyuck never knew.

“Come in,” he sighs, moving aside. Donghyuck enters the room with an angry stride and Mark looks at him hesitantly. “Um, coffee? Some juice?”

“You’re going to break up with me and you ask me if I want  _coffee_?”

Mark winces, and something inside him coils at the idea of them actually dating. “I’m not really… breaking up with you. It’s not that simple. And it’s not about us,” he says, walking to the kitchen anyway. He can see Donghyuck roll his eyes at his words. “Also, we weren’t really official, were we?” 

“No, no we weren’t,” Donghyuck says. “Because you never fucking explained. But you reciprocate every sweet thing I do anyway, so it’s just the same.”

“Ah.” Mark scratches his neck awkwardly. A memory comes up to him: in this one, Mark smiles at Donghyuck as the younger tries to hold his hand. “I see.”

“Well?”

“Well…” Mark pours leftover juice for the both of them. Donghyuck is standing in the precipice of the kitchen, arms crossed, so Mark gestures to the table. “It’s… I don’t really know where to start.”

“I’m waiting.”

“Okay,” Mark nods, absently tracing the rim of his glass. Donghyuck takes a seat in front of him and he still looks angry. “Okay, so. Let’s say, I’m… not really who you thought I was.”

Donghyuck looks unamused. “You’re a government spy.”

“No, what the fuck?” Mark says, making a face. “Let’s be realistic here.”

Donghyuck sighs, drinking from the glass. “Get to the fucking point, Mark.”

“Okay,” Mark swallows, not even noticing Donghyuck’s lack of honorifics due to his nerves. “Alright, so. I... ah, how do I say this? I can, uh.” He clears his throat. He thinks it’s going to sound funny out loud. “I can travel back through time.”

Donghyuck spits out his drink. It’s almost comical and Mark would laugh if he weren’t about to tell his biggest and silliest secret in life. “Let’s be realistic, he said.”

“No, no, wait, I know how this sounds,” Mark says, “hear me out. I’m telling the truth.”

Donghyuck exhales loudly, like he’s tired. Which he is. “Okay.” He nods like he fucking believes though Mark  _knows_  that Donghyuck probably already thinks he’s crazy. “Okay so let’s say, hypothetically—“

“Not a hypothesis.” 

“— _hypothetically_ ,” he emphasizes on the word, narrowing his eyes at Mark, “you actually  _can_ travel back through time. What the fuck does this have to do with everything?”

“I, uh,” he tries to phrase it into something much simpler, “I might have accidentally travelled back through time, did and said some stuff I shouldn’t have, and now, consequently, I’m dating you.”

Donghyuck gives him a dirty look. “’ _Consequently?’_ ”

Mark sighs. “Alright, fuck,” he says, running a hand to his hair exasperatedly. “This is harder than I expected it to be.”

“What could you have fucking done for me to just be a mere consequence to your irresponsible actions? Honestly, Mark.” He really looks tired and pissed off at this point, Mark notes.

“Okay, so you remember the New Year's Eve Party at Sooyoung’s house?” Mark says; Donghyuck is looking at him like he wants to strange him. “I… in my reality, I didn’t hang out with you that night. I was out drinking with Lucas in the living room. But I woke up this morning with a hangover and, because I’m out of my mind, I accidentally time-travelled back to that party and hung out with you instead.” 

Donghyuck still wants to strangle him. Mark isn’t really good in explaining under harsh pretences. 

“I guess that changed everything?” He licks his lips. “And when I time-travelled back to present time, I woke up to a reality where I like you back and we’re dating or whatever. And here… I am.”

“So…” Donghyuck taps his fingers on the table. “So, you’re telling me you’re not the Mark I confessed to.”

“Yes!” Mark says, then realizes, “wait, I mean, I’m still  _that_ Mark technically, but—wait. Ah, how do I explain this?”

“You don’t actually like me.”

“Yes,” then Mark panics, realizes his words again, “I mean, no. Ye— _no,_ I don’t  _don’t_  like you.” Mark knows he’s not making a lick of sense. He doesn't understand himself either.                                                 

Donghyuck looks at him.

“No, listen. The point is”—he almost tears his hair out—“in  _my_ reality where I actually hung out with Lucas and not you in that party, we aren’t dating.”

Donghyuck furrows his eyebrows. “And you’re dating Lucas?”

“No! C’mon, man.” Mark makes a face. “No. Everything is normal. No one’s dating anybody.”

“But...” Donghyuck says after a pause, there is a glint in his eyes, “do you  _like_ me?”

Suddenly, Mark’s face feels hot. What should have been a question easy to answer now stands unanswered, remembering the events earlier. He looks away.

Donghyuck sighs at this. “Listen, if you’re going to waste my time, I’m gonna go,” he says, standing up from the chair abruptly.

“No, wait!” Mark stands up too in panic. “You don’t even believe me yet!”

“Damn right I don’t!” Donghyuck growls. “Making up stories about time travelling just to mess with me? What the fuck, Mark? Am I seven?” 

“Wait, please,” Mark says, and he doesn’t know why he sounds so desperate and why he badly wants Donghyuck to understand. “Let me… let me show you instead.”

Donghyuck is still angry. “ _What?_ ”

Mark takes a step and offers him his hand. Donghyuck stares at it incredulously. “Please,” he says, with utmost sincerity, and hopes Donghyuck hears it, “I need you to understand.” 

Donghyuck looks hesitant and albeit still angry, he takes Mark’s hand. His palms are clammy and sweaty and he hopes Donghyuck doesn’t mind. He leads them to the bathroom and opens the door slowly.

“Okay, what the fuck?” Donghyuck says.

“I’m not going to kill you,” Mark replies.

“But  _I_ am going to kill you,” Donghyuck says angrily. “Stop fucking with me, Mark.”

Mark tries not to roll his eyes. “Just,” he says, “just trust me, okay?”

They enter the bathroom, which is too crammed for two people, and stand close. Almost a breath away. Donghyuck tightens his grip on his hand when Mark turns off the lights. “Give me your other hand,” he whispers in the dark, and then feels Donghyuck gently slide his palm above his. Something in Mark’s stomach flips. 

“I want you to do something, okay?” Mark says. “I’ve never done this with anyone before so we’re going through it carefully. Close your eyes, and think of the New Year's Eve party we were at.” 

“I’m not really keen on having a therapy session right now—“

“Shut up,” he hisses. “Just—just do it okay? Just trust me. Think of it, remember what you were doing in it, and hold on to my hand tightly.” Donghyuck is quiet; Mark squeezes his hand. “Ready?” 

He closes his eyes too, and thinks of the party. Donghyuck’s hand is warm against his, and Mark would be lying if he said he didn’t feel comfortable for the first time ever during time-travel. Just the mere idea of Donghyuck trusting him though everything sounds silly to him right now just gives him a slight boost of confidence. 

With Donghyuck’s presence, he seems to have his middle ground. So, slowly, with Donghyuck’s grip on his hand, they slip into the recesses of time. 

 

**NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY. 11:36PM, DECEMBER 31.**

“You can open your eyes,” Mark says softly.

And Donghyuck does, hesitantly. The light in this bathroom is flickering and Mark thinks this must be another bathroom in Sooyoung’s house, not the one where he first time-travelled in. It’s smaller and the tiles are an ugly yellow, unlike the calming blue one the first time. 

“What just happened?” Donghyuck blinks. He must be confused by the onslaught of memories. Mark knows; he was, too, during his first time. The reality of the situation dawns on him and he realizes that it worked. He smiles slightly, excited at nothing, and Donghyuck narrows his eyes at him.

“You just successfully time-travelled.”

“I just, what?” Donghyuck says. Outside, the sound of EDM blasting on the speakers are much louder now though still muffled by the walls. Mark deduces they must be close to the living room.

“We should probably go out to the party,” Mark says.

“What?”

“Stop saying that,” Mark huffs frustratedly, then he realizes they’re still holding hands. He lets go instantly in a panic like they’re blistering. “Let’s go.”

He opens the bathroom door, and sees a few people out in the hallway. They’re definitely close to the living room, given the number of people littered in this hallway, holding drinks and walking on carpeted floors. They step outside slowly.

“Oh  _damn_ ,” somebody says once they do, and it’s not Donghyuck. When he turns to see, it’s Lucas wearing a shit-eating grin. “Hey there, Mark,” he greets. “Fancy seeing you and Donghyuck here.”

Donghyuck looks like he’s just seen a ghost. “What the fuck?”

Lucas laughs at his reaction though Mark knows Donghyuck didn’t react to Lucas’ implication but to the idea that they actually just time-travelled. “Hey, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” Lucas winks. “Secret’s not mine to tell. Just, uh, just keep it on the down low, though.”

“Oh my god,” Donghyuck exclaims again, looking around.

“Oh my god indeed,” Lucas laughs. “So  _that’s_ why you took so long, Mark. You could’ve just told me you had something to  _do_  instead of saying you needed a bathroom break. I would’ve understood.”

“Shut up, Lucas.” Mark’s face burns red. “It’s not what you think.”

“Sure, Mark,” Lucas grins. “Anyway, don’t miss the highlight of the party. Fireworks in 20 minutes. Drinks in the refreshment table. Enjoy!” Lucas walks off to another direction with a loud laugh. Mark’s face is still burning but Donghyuck is still astounded, looking from left to right with wide eyes. 

“Where are we?” he asks.

“I told you, Sooyoung’s New Year's Eve party,” Mark says. “I just needed to show you.”

“Okay no, no wait,” Donghyuck says, blinking incredulously. “Wait. I think…”

Mark eyes him warily. “You think what?”

Donghyuck looks up at him. “I think I need a drink.”

Mark sighs. He gestures forward and they pad through the now familiar carpeted floor. They follow the drilling sound and the group of people flocking in the hallway until they see the archway separating the halls from the living room. Somebody had destroyed the banner above the refreshments table and now it hangs pitifully on the wall, about to fall off any minute.

Donghyuck immediately takes a cup of something and drinks it in one go.

“Got it bad, huh,” Mark winces as Donghyuck closes his eyes. “You okay now?”

He opens it again, looking more alert. Or maybe crazed. Mark isn’t sure. “Okay,” he says, “okay. Firstly… what the fuck did you just do?”

“Uh,” Mark gestures to the party lamely. “I just time-travelled us back to the Sooyoung’s party…”

Donghyuck looks at him. “And?”

Mark’s eyes dot around nervously. “And… what?”

“How’d you do it, you dipshit?” Donghyuck almost yells. “I’m about to lose my mind, I swear to god.”

“I don’t know!” Mark almost yells back. “I don’t know. When I turned 16 my father told me that the men in my family always had the ability to time travel, though only to places and times they’ve been in. Ever since then, I’ve been using it almost daily.”

“To do  _what_?”

“Oh, I don’t know, just random stuff!” Mark huffs. “I’m late for class, I time travel to wake myself up early. I embarrass myself during a report, I time travel to fix my mistake. I want to relive certain moments, I time travel back to it.”

“Moments like?”

Mark grins despite his nerves. “Oh, you don’t know how many times I’ve travelled back to the time you slipped and fell while ice skating.”

Donghyuck’s nostrils flare. “You  _asshole_!”

He laughs. “Everybody needs a laugh sometimes, am I right?”

Donghyuck shakes his head, and he still looks crazy about the idea. “Okay, okay,” he says. “So you  _can_ time travel.”

Mark nods.

“Alright, fuck. I…” Donghyuck clears his throat. “I’m sorry for lashing out on you earlier. I guess I was just angry.”

“It’s okay,” Mark says softly. “I understand why.”

“So…” Donghyuck peters off, then his mouth turns down in the corners slightly. “You actually don’t like me.”

Mark’s face flushes. His mind unhelpfully supplies an image of Donghyuck leaning on him. “That’s not it.”

“No, but it’s okay, I understand.” Donghyuck nods, but he sounds... “What happened, exactly?”

Mark scratches his burning face, wills himself to calm down. He experiences dating Donghyuck one day and he turns to a fumbling mess. Honestly, could this day get any weirder and longer?

“So, in  _my_ reality, we still go to the party together. Remember?” Donghyuck nods; Mark continues, “but Doyoung-hyung drags me away the minute we enter, off to greet Jaehyun-hyung and Seulgi-noona and the others. Lucas finds me a couple minutes later and invites me for a drink. You know this part, right?” 

“Yeah,” Donghyuck says.

“I go to the bathroom. Then I go straight to the living room to hang out with Lucas again, who’s now with Jeno. Ten and Taeyong play beer pong and everybody comes to watch. I see you somewhere in the crowd I think but we don’t interact. Eventually, I go back to the dorms with Jeno and only see you the next day.” 

“Oh,” Donghyuck says, now understanding. “What happened here is that instead of going straight to the living room, you went to the kitchen and found me?”

“Yeah,” Mark nods. “I was thirsty. Then we stayed to talk while everybody was out watching beer pong, I guess. Then the fireworks and then…” 

“Yeah,” Donghyuck whispers.

The party is loud around them but Mark only hears Donghyuck. Somebody yells in delight and when Mark turns to see, Taeyong has won another round of beer pong. Nobody sees them in the corner because everyone is too busy watching and placing bets. 

“I guess…” Mark swallows thickly. “I guess what I said changed everything? Made you… feel something? Maybe it was just a slip.” 

“A slip,” Donghyuck concedes, parroting Mark, though he doesn’t look sure. He looks like he’s about to say something else, mouth finding the words, hesitating. “You know,” he mutters, “that  _did_ make me feel something and that was the turning point of everything for me but…”

“But?” Mark tenses. “But, what?”

Donghyuck looks at Mark. “I… I want you to do something for me,” he says, as if reluctantly, “…time travel back to the times we spent. Maybe during that one time I spent a whole night in your dorm or maybe when we went to that one cafe in Sinchon with live bands.”

Mark furrows his eyebrows. “What?”

“Just do it, hyung,” Donghyuck says. “Or it can be any other recent time, really.”

“But why?”

Donghyuck gives him a small smile. “You’ll see,” he says. “If you look closely and notice, you’ll see.”

 _See what?_ But then Taeyong’s winning another round again and everybody’s laughing and screaming in delight. Sooyoung comes to start ushering everyone out of the living room, directing them to the front lawn. Everybody’s to spend the last ten minutes of the year there to wait for the countdown. Then, the fireworks.

Jaemin spots them in the crowd and Mark is almost surprised at how naturally Donghyuck blends in, like he wasn’t panicking about time-travelling earlier. Like they didn’t just have  _that_ conversation. 

They glue in between their friends in the front lawn, everyone’s hands on everyone’s shoulders, and there’s laughter. Mark’s brain is still spinning with a thousand thoughts and confusion but he laughs along anyway, Donghyuck smiling at him. 

The countdown starts after a long wait, and everybody joins in. 

 _10!_  

“— _was wondering where you’ve gone—“_

_9!_

“ _—your New Year celebrations in Canada?—“_

_8!_

“ _—me liking you isn’t so farfetched—“_

_7!_

“ _—give you time to yourself to think about it—“_

_6!_

“ _—and we’re coming over—“_

_5!_

“ _—why are you so jumpy?—“_

_4!_

“ _—you good?—“_

_3!_

_“—reciprocating all the sweet things I do—“_

_2!_

_“—time travel back to that time when—“_

_1!_

_“—you’ll see—“_

“See what?” Mark whispers to himself as everybody yells, and the sky bursts into colorful sparks again. He turns to look and sees that Donghyuck is looking back at him with the light in his eyes.

 

**IN BETWEEN.**

“So what now?”

Mark flexes his fingers, palms not clammy anymore. They’re standing in Mark’s bathroom, back to Donghyuck’s present time. “So…” Mark says, “this is where I leave.”

“You’re going back to fix things.”

Mark somehow feels nervous. He licks his lips. “I am. To that New Year's Eve party I’ve been to for almost a thousand times now. I’ve got Sooyoung’s house plan memorize now already, to be honest.”

Donghyuck laughs, a rich sound that echoes in Mark’s ears.

“This… is a goodbye then,” Mark says, casting his gaze down.

“Goodbye?” Donghyuck’s lips quirk in amusement. “You’re not going to die, are you?”

“No,” Mark laughs softly, “but.. I mean, we won’t be, um, together anymore after, so.”

“Ah,” Donghyuck says. Mark looks at him and sees Donghyuck deep in thought, as if in the precipice of a realization. “Before you go though, I have a question.”

The dorm light flickers, and Mark thinks he needs to replace it with a new one. After. When things go back to… normal. “What is it?” 

“When you first got to this reality, this one where I’m dating you,” Donghyuck laughs and corrects himself, “ _kind of_  dating, anyway. Why didn’t you immediately leave to get things back to normal?”

The light flickers again.

“My head was aching, I guess. I was hungover,” Mark hears himself say.

“Hungover?” Donghyuck asks. “The whole day? Even when we were in that restaurant?”

_Even when you went back to the time Donghyuck confessed to witness it yourself?_

The voice in his mind sounds strangely like his own. “I—“ Mark’s heart starts beating wildly in his chest, skin prickling.

“Why didn’t you fix things immediately?” Donghyuck tilts his head. "What did you _feel_?”

Mark swallows, his chest tightening. “I… I don’t know." He—

“You don’t, huh.” Donghyuck looks at him with an almost sad smile at his reaction. “I just hope you’d realize. Don’t forget to do what I told you okay?”

“Which?” 

“I highly recommend that one time we were in Sinchon,” Donghyuck muses, and then Mark understands. “It was one of the firsts. Do it, okay?”

 _First what?_ “Okay,” Mark nods, too confused to ask, still feeling his heart beat in his chest.

“You should go now.”

“I should,” Mark nods again. When he closes his eyes, the last thing he sees is Donghyuck. He hears Donghyuck flicks off the light switch, and feels his hand graze Mark’s one last time, before he goes.

 

**NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY. 10:36PM, DECEMBER 31.**

“Hey, Mark!” Lucas exclaims from the couch when he sees Mark walking towards them. Mark offers a tight-lipped smile. “Jeno says he’d been looking everywhere for you.”

 Jeno’s sitting beside Lucas and he raises his hand to a wave. “Hey, hyung.”

And it comes naturally, like déjà vu, the conversation that Mark is hearing for the second time. Jeno and Lucas laugh beside him in the couch, and Doyoung joins them later on to pass a couple of snacks. Everything slides naturally to where it belongs. The crease evens out, calms the raging waters.

Soon after, Ten arrives in the living room and challenges Taeyong to a round of beer pong. Amused smiles are painted everywhere, and everybody comes to watch. Soon enough, a huge crowd forms. Mark, from his seat, eyes the rowdy crowd slowly and warily. 

There, stuck between Jaemin and Yuta, stands a smiling Donghyuck. 

Taeyong wins another round, and money slides into people’s palms. It’s brief and small, but Mark sees Donghyuck’s eyes meet his and there’s a flicker of recognition. Maybe even a smile. Mark feels his grip on his red cup tighten. Then, Yuta yells at Sicheng to pay up and Donghyuck breaks the gaze to laugh at the two.

Everything slides back to place, even during the fireworks show. Somewhere in the crowd, Donghyuck is laughing. But in this reality, the smile isn’t directed at Mark.

 

 

 **MARK’S DORM. 10:03AM, FEBRUARY 5.**

For what seems to be the hundredth time, Mark throws up again.

“Ah fuck,” he groans, chest heaving. He’s back to where he should be, things back to normal, and he’s back to suffering with a hangover. The bathroom tiles dig in his knees.

He closes his eyes, and everything replays in his mind. There’s a painful squeeze in his chest, like somebody had compressed every single feeling to a tight knot that’s tugging in his heartstrings. He’s still sitting in the bathroom floor, a pool of vomit in the toilet, and he stands to clean everything up.

To say the least, while washing his face, Mark jumps in surprise when he hears his phone ring.

He blinks for a moment, water droplets dripping off his face. One sticks to his eyelashes and he flicks it away, still listening to the faint chime echoing in his dorm. He wipes his hand on his jeans, and hesitates before answering. His head throbs for a moment, and he closes his eyes.

“Hello?”

“Mark-hyung?”

This time, he acknowledges that his stomach  _does_ flip. Something sticks in his throat. Why is Donghyuck still calling? “Donghyuck, hey.”

“Hey.” Donghyuck still sounds the same. “I didn’t think you’d answer. I thought you’d be passed out ‘till afternoon or whatever.” Donghyuck pauses for a bit. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh.” Mark is reminded of what’s going to happen here but he isn’t sure if it still will in this reality so he swallows and sucks it up, “I’m fine. A bit peachy, but I’m fine.”

“You sure? You don’t have a hangover or whatever? You drank too much last night.”

“I did, huh,” he says, and then suddenly hears Donghyuck’s words from earlier. “No, but I’m fine. Don’t worry. It’s just a small headache. I just uh—“

“Have you eaten breakfast?”

Mark opens, then closes his mouth.  _That time in Sinchon._ “No.”

Somebody talks over Donghyuck in the other line, probably Renjun. The sound is muffled, but he hears Dongyhuck say shut up. “You haven’t eaten? Where’s your roommate?” 

“Uh, he’s”—Mark thinks there’s no point in lying—“he’s not here.”

“You’re alone? Then how are you gonna get breakfast?” 

Something in Mark twinges at the hint of concern masked with indifference in his voice. He knows because he just started paying attention. “I don’t know. Instant ramyun probably? Or maybe food delivery.” 

“Huh—“ it’s clear now, the way Donghyuck tells someone to shut up. Then he sighs, “Alright, fuck, fine. Jaemin wants to come over.”

Mark furrows his eyebrows. “What? Jaemin’s with you?”

“Yeah, him and Renjun. Jaemin is saying something about blackmailing you with pictures from last night or whatever,” Donghyuck says, then adds offhandedly, “Also, I can cook you breakfast if you want. Some hangover soup maybe?”

Mark bites his bottom lip, sees Donghyuck smiling at him, his words tugging at his mind.  _You’ll see._ “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” he clears his throat. “Okay. See you in a bit.” 

“See you, hyung.”

Mark stares at the phone in his hand. Donghyuck’s voice is much clearer in his mind now and he feels curiosity swell in his chest. Unanswered questions clutter his mind. It takes one text of a smiley face from Donghyuck and approximately one minute for Mark to make a decision. 

 

**SINCHON. 7:09PM, NOVEMBER 12.**

“You dyed your hair,” comments Jeno, looking at Donghyuck.

Donghyuck looks at him, then runs a hand through his hair. “I did,” he says. “About time I changed that red hair.”

“It suits you,” Mark hears himself quip. “The brown hair, I mean.” His hands ball to fists inside his jacket pocket nervously. Donghyuck gives him a familiar, pleased smile.

“Thanks,” he grins. Mark looks away.

Neon boards and signage blink overhead. A waft of meat sizzling retreats from one of the restaurant doors and suspends in the air in a slow dance. Jisung had wanted to show Chenle around Sinchon; the others offered to tag along.

Mark looks at Donghyuck discreetly. His words still resonate in his mind. A riddle. He wonders what’s so different about this night.

“Hey, we should definitely try this one,” Jaemin says, briefly pausing in front of a café. There is a sign on the door winking electric blue lights.  _L VE BANDS!_ it reads, and somewhere inside, a vocalist is crooning out a familiar tune.

“I guess we can,” Mark says. “Anybody hungry?”

“Everyone is. I know I am,” Donghyuck says, and then he pulls on Mark’s wrist. “Let’s go.” 

They don’t let go even until they enter. Luckily, the table situated in the front has just been vacated and they settle there, near the sign saying  _OPEN MIC_. “You can let go of me now, you know,” Mark tries to joke despite his nerves. Donghyuck looks at him, then down at their hands, and he lets go.

“Sorry,” he smiles sheepishly. He folds his hand neatly in front of him after.

“It’s okay,” Mark whispers to the air.

The night goes normally, and Mark almost thinks Donghyuck is just fucking with him. One song comes up and his ears perk up at the familiar tune, remembering. “Hey,” he murmurs to Donghyuck. “Remember this song?”

It had been one of their favorites, and they used to do a cover of it back in high school in Donghyuck’s room. He remembers strumming out the chords and Donghyuck’s sweet voice crooning the lyrics.

“I do,” Donghyuck says with a smile, still looking ahead. “How could I forget?”

His phone vibrates, and he sees that it’s a text from one of his classmates. He thumbs in a reply. When he looks back up, Donghyuck is looking at him.

“Was that Chan?” Donghyuck asks. 

“Yeah, he wanted to hang out tomorrow,” Mark says offhandedly.

“You should,” Donghyuck says. “You should hang out with your classmates more, hyung.”

Mark shrugs, not really thinking much about it. “I guess.”

The song is in its bridge; the melody resonates in his ears. “We’re special, huh? What makes us different from them?” Donghyuck asks a bit jokingly.

“I…” Mark looks at him, and remembers the thing he was supposed to say at this moment. Then, it clicks. “When I’m with you, there’s no dull time.”

Donghyuck stares back. He sees himself reflected in his eyes, and then hears Donghyuck’s voice in his mind.  _If you look closely, you’ll see._ The lines around Donghyuck’s eyes soften as he smiles at Mark. 

“I was asking about the whole gang but okay,” he exhales. It’s then Mark notices. Something in his chest blooms. The song the band is performing ends but the singing in his heart doesn’t.

 

**IN BETWEEN.**

Mark opens his eyes and sees Donghyuck in front of him. Before travelling back to his present time, he decided to go back to this reality for the last time. Where he and Donghyuck are a thing and Mark’s only minutes away from fixing the whole mess. He really needs a confirmation now.

“Hi,” he smiles sheepishly.

“Hey there,” Donghyuck says and he sounds confused. “What’s up? Why are you still here?”

“I uh,” Mark clears his throat, face flushing, “I came back to confirm some things.”

“You what?”

“I already travelled back to that time,” Mark gestures lamely. “You know, in Sinchon.”

Donghyuck’s eyebrows furrow. “Really? When?”

“Just now, and I came back to ask some questions,” Mark coughs. “I… I didn’t want to get ahead of myself.”

“You already time-travelled and I didn’t know?” Donghyuck sounds really confused. “Okay, I guess? What’s your question?”

“You…” Mark can’t seem to get the words out his mouth, his heart beating loudly in his chest, “You already liked me even before the New Year's Eve party?”

Donghyuck blinks at him and oh, his face spreads out to the brightest smile.  _Oh_. Mark feels something cascade behind his ribcage. “Ding-ding!” Donghyuck laughs, though his cheeks are a bit flushed. “You got it right. What gave it away?”

Mark shrugs, looking down in embarrassment. “I just… felt it. Back in that live café.”

“Actually, that was just the beginning,” Donghyuck muses. “I started seeing you as something but I never truly did realize I liked you until that New Year's Eve party.” He smiles, “You had no idea how confused I got after.”

“But what happens now?” Mark chews on his bottom lip. “I didn’t hang out with you at that New Year's Eve party in my reality. What happens now?”

“Hm, still the same I guess?” Donghyuck tilts his head. “I probably still like you but I probably don’t realize it yet, or don’t want to admit it.”

Mark squints. “How are you so sure you still like me in my reality?” 

Donghyuck smiles at him. “I don’t know much about time travel but this I know: no amount of it could manipulate feelings. Either it’s bound to happen, or it’s not. I think no matter what, I’m always going to start liking you that way anyway. It’s just a matter of when.” 

Mark swallows nervously.

“And I guess the same thing goes with you about me, huh?” Donghyuck says, raising in eyebrow. Then, he shrugs, “I don’t know though. Try to ask your father about it. Maybe he might have some answers.” He looks at Mark, and Mark thinks he might have already found the answers in his eyes.

“Also,” Donghyuck chuckles, “you do know that you’d have to repeat everything and go back to that New Year's Eve party again, right?”

Mark widens his eyes, realizing. “Oh right.” He groans. “Damn, this is fucking tiring.”

“Go along now, hyung. You still have a lot of things to do.”

Lots and lots of things. Donghyuck smiles at him for the last time, and Mark basks in its warmth. For the first time, a cold chill doesn’t sweep up his spine but comfort trickles in his skin instead. Time ticks somewhere in the distance, and then he’s gone.

 

**MARK’S DORM. 10:20AM, FEBRUARY 5.**

“Mark-hyung!” Mark’s eyes fly open, having just come from that damned New Year's Eve party again. Everything is back to normal again. “We’re coming in!” 

He looks down at his clothes and sees that he still hasn’t changed them yet. When he walks out of the bathroom, Donghyuck, Jaemin, Renjun are already halfway in. There is a stutter in his heart when he and Donghyuck make eye contact. He sees things differently now, and he wonders why it took him this long to realize.

“Looking terrible,” Donghyuck quips.

“You couldn’t have at least changed your clothes?” Renjun asks, wearing that expression of disapproval again.

“Was about to,” Mark bites his lip. “Is it okay if I take a quick shower?”

Donghyuck snorts. “It’s  _not_ okay if you didn’t. Go ahead and shower, you nasty ass.” Same old. He narrowly dodges the pillow Mark chucks at him. It hits the wall and skids down to the floor.

“Work on your aim,” Jaemin says, picking up the pillow.

“Yeah, whatever,” Mark shakes his head. “Make use of anything in the kitchen. I’ll be quick.”

“Take your time,” Donghyuck breezes as Mark trudges to the bathroom. “Hey hyung, by the way, is bean sprout soup okay? I can take a quick trip to the grocery if you want something else.”

“Yeah, everything is fine.” He manages to procure up a smile. “Thanks.”

The cool shower invigorates his senses and under the trickling water, he gathers all his thoughts. When he closes his eyes all he sees are Donghyuck’s smiles directed at him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he revels in the fact that another reality is open for him to tread. A path just waiting to be walked on. His father had told him that with time in his hands, almost anything is possible, and Mark wonders why he only sees now the possibility of….

His heart pounds on his chest but now, it’s a comfortable sound he finds a beat to. 

 _It’s just a matter of when._  

When he walks out of the shower, now fully dressed, the other three are seated in the table. Donghyuck looks up at him with a smile that warms Mark’s chest. “Eat up, hyung,” he says. “You’ve got a long day ahead of you.” 

Jaemin smiles wickedly from his seat as Mark sits beside them. “I’ve got pictures from last night in my phone.” 

Mark groans. “Please don’t remind me.” 

They bully Mark the whole duration of breakfast, and Mark finds himself casting quick glances at Donghyuck the whole time. Everything really  _is_ different now but still all the same, somehow. He looks at Donghyuck and sees his best friend of many years now. Sees the past, present, and future glowing in his eyes.

Everything is different but is it really? When he thinks back to the times they’ve spent, he realizes that it’s been like this since then.

That Donghyuck has liked him all along.

And it’s funny how it takes one accident for Mark to realize that and for him to look at Donghyuck in a new light. It’s funny how when he has only started looking has he realized that Donghyuck has been looking back all along. He thinks he’ll tell Donghyuck about this sometime in the future but now, now he basks in the comfortable smile Donghyuck sends his way. He’s got all the time in his hands. 

“You honestly spent all morning just lying in your bed, hyung?” Donghyuck asks, raising an eyebrow. The fondness that Mark has only pinpointed now is still gleaming in Donghyuck’s eyes like it always has been.

Mark huffs out a laugh, finding the whole situation funny. “Oh, you have no idea.”

 

**HONGDAE. 8:30PM, FEBRUARY 5.**

“Thanks for the treat, Jisung!”

They disperse one by one, off to their own dorms as they stand in the university gate. When Mark turns to see, Donghyuck is looking at him and he looks away when Mark does, trying not to act nonplussed.

“So…” Donghyuck says. “I just wanted to ask. Do you have anything to do tomorrow?”

Mark looks at him, knowing where this is going. “None at all, why?”

“I just…” Donghyuck clears his throat. “I wanted to ask if you maybe want to watch a movie? This new one I wanted to see just came out.”

“Yeah, sure.” Mark nods, trying not to smile. Time prickles in his hands. “Just text me?” 

“Okay,” Donghyuck says, then they arrive in his dorm building. Mark's is situated two buildings nearby. The evening hair ruffles his hair to a halo around his head. “So, this is me. I’ll get going first then.” 

Mark remembers something as Donghyuck walks off. “Donghyuck, wait!”

Donghyuck hesitates on top of the steps. “What is it?”

“My charger,” Mark laughs. “You forgot to give me back my charger.”

“Oh right.” Donghyuck’s eyes widen. “Do you want to come with me to my room to get it?”

“Sure,” Mark says. He climbs up the steps, and looks up at Donghyuck standing on top of it. Still the same. Their arms brush as they walk and Mark almost says something but Donghyuck cuts him off with a funny joke. He laughs and thinks maybe things can wait. If it’s bound to happen, it will and it can wait. Up the stairs, they take it slow, with all the time in their hands. A crease in time evens out, a crossroad goes every way, and Mark is walking the same path he did.

He finds that Donghyuck has been walking with him all along.  

**Author's Note:**

> during their first date mark makes stupid mistakes like dropping silverware or panicking & accidentally hitting donghyuck when donghyuck turns to kiss him. it takes him approximately 3 tries to get everything right


End file.
